SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Lawyers for Mayor James E. West say they have appealed a judge’s ruling that allows a recall petition over a sex and abuse-of-office scandal to proceed to the signature-gathering phase.

Visiting Benton County Superior Court Judge Craig J. Matheson ruled June 13 that Spokane resident Shannon Sullivan could circulate recall petitions alleging West committed misfeasance by offering city jobs to men he met in a gay online chat room.

West has denied any criminal or unethical conduct in either his use of a city computer or internship programs. He has rejected calls to resign.

In response to requests for additional comment, West’s lawyers released a letter he submitted to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

“The citizens of Spokane deserve to know why I have decided to appeal,” West wrote. “Simply put, it is because the charges are false, and the ballot statement they would vote on was improperly prepared and is prejudicial.

“My lawyers are confident that after an appeal to the Supreme Court, we will have a more accurate ballot statement to put before the voters for a fair recall election,” West concluded in the article submitted for publication.

West’s appeal, filed June 27 through Spokane County Superior Court, will go directly to the high court. An employee in the state Supreme Court clerk’s office, who refused to identify herself, said the court could not discuss a possible timetable until the appeal reached it.

Sullivan filed recall documents in May, shortly after The Spokesman-Review published a series of articles alleging West sexually abused two boys in the 1970s and 1980s. West has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The newspaper also alleged that West, since becoming mayor in 2004, offered City Hall jobs and other perks to young men he met in a gay chat room. He is also accused of sexually harassing an openly gay man he helped get appointed to a city human rights commission.

The lawyers representing West – Bill Etter, Susan Troppman and Carl Oreskovich – said Matheson’s ruling and the recall ballot synopsis were flawed.

Sullivan’s petition accuses West of using a city-owned computer to solicit young men to become interns “for his own personal purposes.”

In his letter to the newspaper, West contends he encouraged a young man to apply for an internship, but did not reveal his office nor guarantee the young man would be chosen for the unpaid position.

Matheson threw out two other recall charges involving alleged misuse of a city computer and causing embarrassment to residents.

Sullivan’s telephone has been disconnected and she was not able to be reached for comment. Rita Amunrud, a recall organizer, said backers expected West to appeal and plan to ask the state Supreme Court to expedite its review.

The appeal means recall supporters cannot begin circulating signature petitions until the high court rules on the factual and legal basis for the charge against West.

That could take months, said Jeffrey Even, an assistant state attorney general in Olympia who challenged a recall effort against Secretary of State Sam Reed.

“In my experience, recall cases proceed on the same timetable as any other appeal. They are not necessarily expedited,” Even said.

Under the Spokane City Charter, a mayor cannot be impeached by the City Council and can only be removed from office through recall.

“Yes I exercised poor judgment and made mistakes in my personal life, but nothing illegal and nothing unethical,” West wrote to the newspaper, adding he was ashamed and embarrassed by his online actions.

“… My personal mistake need not be a public crusade to drive me from office and to stop the good work being done at city hall,” the mayor wrote. “It also doesn’t mean that I have to sit silently by while the facts are distorted.”